The Chilean PresidentGabriel Boriccondemned this Sunday the violent clashes between protesters and police in Santiago, in commemoration of the 49th anniversary of the coup in Chile, which overthrew the socialist Salvador Allende and gave rise to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
“Democracy is built with dialogue, respecting those who think differently and never with violence and I hope all those who claim this day understood it,” Boric told reporters, in a video posted on his Twitter account.
“Because if we want to get ahead, which I have no doubt, is the will of the great and overwhelming majority of Chileans, to meet again, it has to be in peace and without violence. And that is what we are going to do from the government,” she added.
Hundreds of people participated in a march in the Chilean capital to honor the victims of the Pinochet military regime (1973-1990).
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During the tour, from the presidential palace of La Moneda, in the Centerto the Memorial to the Political Detainees, Disappeared and Executed, in the capital’s General Cemetery, isolated groups of hooded men clashed with riot police agents.
In addition, commercial premises were looted.Molotov cocktail throwing and the burning of a municipal vehicle, which the police repressed with water cannons and tear gas.
the riots continued among the tombs in the Cemeterywhile the tributes to the victims of the dictatorship continued amid tear gas.
Search for the missing
In the early hours of the day, Boric announced the launch of the search plan for detainees who disappeared during the dictatorship.
“Our commitment is (…) to tirelessly continue searching for the disappeared detainees, 1,192 disappeared detainees who still do not know where they are. It is not acceptable, it is not tolerable, we cannot naturalize them,” the president pointed out.
The initiative, announced last June during the annual accountability speech to the nation, contemplates working together with the organizations of relatives of disappeared detainees and executed for political reasons.
Chile’s dictatorship left 40,175 victims, executed, detainees disappearedpolitical prisoners and tortured, according to figures from the official commission that collected testimonies from victims and family members.
From this day, the Chilean government begins the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état, which will conclude in a year, on September 11, 2023.
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red carnations
In the morning, Boric visited the tomb of Allende in the General Cemetery, where the relatives of victims of the dictatorship were also present, as happens every year on this date.
“The calm metal of President Allende’s voice continues to resonate,” Boric tweeted alongside images of him touring the cemetery.
Among the people accompanying him was Senator Isabel Allende, daughter of the late president. The video does not record conversations, only the Cuban troubadour Silvio Rodríguez is heard singing “Santiago de Chile”.
Throughout the day, various political groups and citizens came to pay homage to the statue of Allende in front of the La Moneda presidential palace to lay red carnations in his honor.
The commemoration of the anniversary of the coup will end at night with a solemn wake in the National Stadium in Santiago, which was during the first weeks of the dictatorship the largest concentration camp for political detainees.
